Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The CW‘s the series premiere of Gotham Knights. Read beyond this point at your own risk.
The episode opens with a voice over by Turner explaining that when his parents were murdered, he was adopted by the richest man in the city who gave him everything he could want except for the reason why and it turns out that wasn’t the only secret he was keeping. In his office at Wayne Tower, Bruce Wayne holds a coin with a mysterious owl symbol on it and then goes to a secret panel in his office wall to reveal his Batman mask.
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At school, Turner beats Brody at fencing and decides to throw a party at Wayne Manor that evening since Bruce won’t be home. At the party, a kid nearly knocks over a vase, but Carrie Kelley saves it. The butler/Alfred Pennyworth figure, Cressida, alerts Turner to Brody and Stephanie making out in another room. Meanwhile at Wayne Tower, Harper, Cullen and Duela, break into Bruce’s office to steal something from the safe that turns out to be the gun that Joe Chill used to murder the Waynes — and the barrel is warm. That’s when they realize it’s a setup. The window is broken and “Your Bat is Dead” is written on it. On the street below, Bruce Wayne lies dead. The police show up, but the trio make their escape. On the street, Harvey Dent goes to Bruce’s body, which is wearing Batman’s cowl, exposing his dual identity.
At Wayne Manor, the police show up. Harvey breaks the news to Turner that Bruce is dead. At the police station, Turner is devastated, and Harvey says he will find who did this and make them pay but Turner doesn’t believe him. Harvey asks him if he knew Bruce was Batman. This is news to Turner. Back home, he is confused, but he and Stephanie accidentally happen upon the Batcave after Turner throws a glass at the false wall concealing its entrance, confirming what Harvey said is true.
The city mourns for Bruce Wayne now that they know he’s Batman. While the funeral is underway, the police get a tip on where the “killers” are holed up. Meanwhile, the trio are planning to take their cash payment and flee Gotham but are captured by the police. Later, with no Batman to stop crime, the Mutant Gang causes trouble across the city. At the police station, the trio are questioned. Turner is determined to find out who paid the killers and later, he and Stephanie go into the Batcave. She uses the computer to access banking information to find out who was responsible for hiring the killers but what she finds out is shocking: it looks like Turner paid the killers.
The police show up and arrest Turner almost instantaneously. Bruce’s lawyers refuse to defend Turner. Harvey, who says he believes Turner is innocent, shows Turner the coin, but Turner doesn’t know what it is. Turner is taken to the cell with Cullen, Harper, and Duela. A fight breaks out and the detective moves to have them transported. Turner asks for his one phone call. The press wants to know if Harvey will recuse himself from the case. HIs boss wants him to go forward and prosecute him — and convict him — because Harvey plans to run for mayor.
Turner calls Stephanie and tells her she’s the only one who can get him out of things. The transport to Blackgate begins and it turns out that the fight was fake. Harper, Duela, and Cullen used it to steal things they could use to get out of their cuffs in the transport. They’ve figured out that they’re going to be murdered because this is all a setup. Chaos ensues and the transport crashes. Turner tries to stop Duela from killing the cops, but Duela is aware that the cops are part of the frame job and are the ones going to kill them. It looks like the detective will succeed when his hand is hit with a Batarang, and a cop car is hit with an explosive. Robin shows up. It’s Carrie Kelley. She believes they didn’t kill Bruce.
Harvey holds a press conference doubling down on hunting down the fugitives. Stephanie goes into the Batcave to use the computer to try to help Turner. Turner, Cullen, Harper, and Duela hide out in the clock tower of the school and start to try to form a plan to figure out who really killed Bruce. Cullen reveals that he stole Detective Ford’s watch and the back of it has the same engraving the coin did. Duela reveals that that engraving belongs to the Court of Owls and that they should have just let them be killed because the Court of Owls really runs Gotham and this is very, very bad news. In a parking lot elsewhere, Detective Ford is beheaded by a masked figure.
Gotham Knights airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
